The Intern
by WritingMind
Summary: Casey is freaking out; Olivia is way too jumpy for it to be normal; Elliot's life is falling apart; Fin and Munch are at each other's throats. Who could save them? Why, the new intern, that's who. Just easing into the story right now. Read & Review!
1. New Beginnings and Nerves

**Author's Note: Here's hoping this is the start to a wonderful story ^^**

I stared up at the large brick building. My eyes scanned it slowly, taking in every spec of it, not knowing but sensing that it would be important to me. "You ready?" I thought about it for a moment. Was I ready? I couldn't really be sure. This was something I had been dreaming of for years and now it seemed unreal to me that it could actually be happening. I nodded and we pushed our way in to the sixteenth precinct.

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When I was younger I was the weird little kid who sat in the corner alone. I was gawky and uncoordinated and couldn't make conversation to save my life. I had slowly grown out of this but it had been a long grueling process. My mother had even contemplated therapy, but I eventually bloomed into a social butterfly, a strong leader.

Staring in at the people whom my life would surround, I went back to being that little kid. I realized just how nervous I was for this moment and I questioned why I had never felt this way in the past, why I was feeling it now. I didn't like it.

"You'll be fine," she whispered reassuringly, squeezing my shoulder and propelling me forward. The words echoed through my head. I tried to convince myself they were true. I tried to prevent myself from hyperventilating. It was so weird being here.

When my mom had set this thing up she hadn't really filled me in much on who I would be spending my time with other than Casey of course. My mom and Casey had been friends since college. I had only seen her once every so often when she came to visit but she was nice enough and I liked her as a person. Despite what some people think, she's the reason I wanted to become a lawyer, not my mother. I loved my mom, but she was my mom and Casey was Casey. So now I was interning with the sixteenth precinct and her. And I had no idea who anyone was.

A man with a kind face and the bluest eyes you would ever see, smiled and winked at me. I wasn't really sure what to do with myself so I just kept my eyes on the ground. He didn't seem to worry. I was glad he didn't think I disliked him. I just didn't know what to do with myself.

Casey seemed to know where she was going so I just kept letting her push me forward. A woman with brown hair was staring intently at a piece of paper on her desk but she did look up when I passed. I could sense the questioning in her eyes as she looked at Casey. I can't be sure what the look Casey gave her was.

Two men, one with grey hair and an odd tie and one much more dressed down, were arguing about something but I couldn't make out their conversation. I was usually a first-class eavesdropper but the buzz of the precinct was just too loud.

We were heading straight for an office but the door was closed. Right before I was about to collide with it Casey opened it. I shot her a grateful smile. I knew she could tell I was freaking out inside. The man behind the desk was old and balding. The little name plate on his desk informed me he was "Captain Donald Cragen." Unlike everyone else he didn't seem surprised to see me. At least Casey had told _someone_ I was coming.

He didn't say anything at first. I could tell he was taking in the sixteen-year-old that stood before him. I was wearing a cable-knit sweater with a white blouse underneath. My light blonde hair fell to about my shoulders and I was wearing my glasses- brown, plastic- which framed my hazel eyes. I was also wearing a pair khakis and nice black shoes. Casey had helped me pick it out.

After a few moments longer he smiled. "You must be Claire," he said enthusiastically. He stood and offered Casey and me a seat. "I'm Captain Cragen, but just call me Captain. Welcome to SVU," he said. I stared at him confused; I was not familiar with the acronym. "Special Victims Unit," he explained. "Did you not tell her anything, Casey?" he teased.

"You told me not to," she countered. I sat there silently listening to their conversation and feeling very out of place.

"You'll be here for the summer from what I've heard. You'll be working with both our unit and Casey at the ADA's offices. I'm sure you noticed some of the people out there. They'll be your mentors while you're here. Don't worry; they don't bite," he joked. I begged to differ after seeing the way the two men had been arguing but my throat was clogged by an imaginary block.

Arguing is something I truly love to do. Immoral people are something I truly hate. Getting to argue and put immoral people in jail at the same time had always seemed like the perfect job to me. I don't think I ever really thought about the crimes the people I would be prosecuting had done. I was planning on making my career based on people who had been murdered or raped. But then again, so were the cops I would be working with.

"I have to go get a judge to sign that warrant you wanted," Casey mentioned. Cragen nodded and 'dismissed' us. We closed the door behind us.

"Do you really have to go?" I asked, looking at her with terrified eyes. She knew I was terrible at meeting new people, especially alone.

"We really need to get this arrest warrant, Claire. Don't worry; Liv and Elliot will take good care of you," she tried to reassure me.

"But I don't even know who any of those people are!" I argued, finally finding my voice.

I was finally where I had dreamed of being, and I was terrified. I didn't know anyone and I was going to be left here alone without Casey, the one person I _did_ know.

She smiled reassuringly. "Elliot, get your ass over here," she called. The man with blue eyes who had winked at me looked up from his desk before slowly making his way over to us.

"Yeah, Case?" he asked, looking me up and down much the same way Cragen had.

"This is Claire," she introduced me. "Claire, this is Elliot." I smiled at him but my voice had disappeared again.

"Are you two related?" he asked, noticing the similarities between us. Our hair was pretty much the same and our bone structure was similar; it was an easy mistake.

"Nah," she replied, "just close family friends."

"Hmm…" he said, taking in her response and looking me over again.

"She's interning here this summer. She'll be working you guys and with me. I need to go get an arrest warrant signed. I was hoping you could 'watch' her while I was gone," she said. She air-quoted the 'watch' part, knowing I would argue I didn't need to be babysat if she hadn't.

"That's fine," he said, smiling wickedly, as if he had something up his sleeve. I was not pleased by this look. I gave Casey a pleading glance, but she shook her head.

"I'll be back soon; I promise. Just relax. You'll be fine. I promise," she said before disappearing out the door.

I glanced at Elliot. "You ever played poker?" he asked. Now I was the one grinning wickedly.

"As a matter of fact, I have," I said.

**Author's Note: I am still in school so it may take a little time in between chapters for me to get stuff up but I'm hoping to have the next chapter by the end of the weekend ^^ It should be a fun one. There will be more dramatic stuff to come. Reviews make me much more inclined to write; just a little tip haha :)**


	2. Poker and Shots

**Author's Note: Sorry this took so long guys. I haven't had much time to get around to it. But I love this chapter so enjoy! ^^**

"I have a pair of nines," he said, tossing his cards down on the table. Olivia showed her hand next; nothing. Munch had folded closer to the beginning. Fin grinned. He turned down his cards, revealing a full house. He thought he had won.

I turned down my hand. "Straight flush," I said grinning. They all groaned. I grabbed the pot and pulled it back towards me.

"I give up," Elliot moaned. He pushed his chair back from the table and stood up, stretching. Olivia had joined after the first hand and Munch and Fin a little later in. We had a good time. I totally massacred them though. We were playing with Oreo's because, as Olivia pointed out, it was unethical to play for money and Cragen would kill us if he found us playing with money. We had checked the cafeteria and the most edible thing they had were Oreo's. We actually just got a ton of the little packs out of the vending machine.

Just as I was about to convince everyone to play another hand, Casey walked in. A smile that stretched from ear to ear graced my face as my eyes lit up. "Hey, Casey!" I called enthusiastically. She walked over.

"Munch, Fin, play time is over; you need to go arrest the guy," she said, handing them a warrant. She hadn't yet acknowledged me but I didn't mind. She was all business right now; I could understand that. She turned to me. "You look fine."

"You told me I would be," I teased. "I just didn't believe you. We played poker for Oreo's."

"How did you con them into playing poker with you?"

"Hey, I did no conning. Elliot brought it up all on his own. His idea completely," I said pointing at him. "Counselor, arrest him!" I joked.

She just rolled her eyes. "Elliot, why would you offer to play poker with her? That's the only card game she's good at."

"Hey! I'm good at all card games!" I argued.

"Only at the games where you can count the cards," she said shaking her head.

"You count cards?!" Elliot was taken aback.

"Nah, I just have a good memory."

"You _soooo_ cheated! Those Oreo's should all be mine!" He pretended to grab for my Oreo's. I slapped his hand.

"My Oreo's!" I eyed him and shook my head. He frowned and hung his head. I couldn't help but laugh. He just looked so silly like that.

"So you all got along okay?" Casey asked, concerned.

"Yeah, until you told them I cheated," I teased, winking at her.

"Somebody had to tell them or they might just think you're lucky," she said.

"My luck sucks. You know that," I thought out loud. "Anyway, this was fun, but there's got to be more to do than just play cards here. Why haven't you guys gotten a case yet or something?"

"I'm sorry no one has gotten raped yet so that you can have an interesting day." Munch. I would quickly find out just how cynical he was.

"That's not what I meant!" I called apologetically. I looked around at everyone else. "Sorry."

Elliot just glared at Munch. "That's just typical him; don't let it get to you."

I nodded but still felt horrible inside. Was I really the kind of person who would ask for someone to be raped just so I wouldn't have to sit around and play poker with some nice people?

The answer is and was no, but it completely made me rethink the internship with them. I didn't want to be the person who watched someone else's life get destroyed while I pretended to be a hero. Behind every hero are the people that needed saving, the people the monster hurt. I didn't want to be a hero.

"Anyway, Claire-Bear, we do have a case. Cragen was just telling me about it. Down on 32nd street. Hop to guys," she said gesturing at Elliot and Olivia. "You can go with them or Fin and Munch. Your choice."

The way she said it was as if she didn't know exactly which pair I was going to choose, which pair anyone would choose: Elliot and Olivia. There was something going on there. It had seemed like the perfect opportunity to figure out what that was.

"I'd like to go with Elliot and Olivia if they don't mind." I glanced over at them pleadingly. They obviously didn't mind.

"Come on, short-stuff," he called as he grabbed his coat. I wasn't the shortest person you would find while walking down a street in New York City, but I wasn't the tallest. I was probably about 5"4 at the time. He only called me short because he was tall.

Olivia smiled at me but then looked at Elliot. "I'm driving." You could tell this was going to start something. You could taste the tension in the air.

He glared at her for a moment, as if trying to decide the best way to proceed. "I think not. Last time you drove we got pulled over by an officer," he stated. He wasn't teasing. This seemed to be something that showed power and superiority.

"Wait, you got pulled over? But your cops?! How could you get pulled over?" I interceded.

"It was only because the lights on the car went out. It's your fault for not getting it serviced," she glared. He stared at her in mock disbelief.

"Yeah, it was my fault." Sarcasm coated his voice thickly. It went on like that for a few more minutes before a thought occurred to me.

"I'll drive," I said.

They both turned and stared at me. "What?! I have my license." They continued to stare. I grabbed the keys off Elliot's desk, and started to walk out. "Are you coming or what?" I called to them.

"Is she allowed to do that?" Elliot asked, turning to Olivia.

"Does she have any idea where she's going?" Olivia asked, mirroring his movements.

They seemed to have formed a truce whilst they tried to convince me to give up the keys. I refused. We made it to the crime scene in record time. The roads in New York weren't that hard to follow.

The argument over the drive back to the precinct would be interesting.

"Hang back," Elliot said protectively. He didn't want me seeing anything I couldn't handle. But I thought I was ready. I was young and cocky.

We walked toward the crime scene. It was a little park where the neighborhood kids probably went. I wasn't so sure I was ready for this anymore. My first murder-rape case and it was a child. Olivia noticed my apprehension. "If you want to wait in the car or back here it's okay. We've been where you are. The first cases are always hard; they all are," she whispered. Elliot hadn't heard our conversation. Good. I feared he might make fun of me.

"I'll be okay," I promised, but I sounded very unconfident and shaky in my answer.

As we walked closer it felt like someone was watching me but I couldn't understand why. I was sure someone had to be looking at me but I wasn't sure why it was giving me such a creepy feeling. The body was coming up quickly and I stayed back a few feet. I did it partially for my benefit but also out of respect for the little girl and the officers working to find her murderer. They huddled around her and I stood there feeling very out of place.

I don't think I felt out of place because I wasn't doing anything but because of the odd feeling I was getting. It was getting worse and I didn't want to stand still. I began squirming. I heard some yelling behind me and turned to see what it was all about, but I didn't get a chance to turn all the way around before I heard the loud crack of a gun. Everything went black.

Bam. Bam. Shot.

**Author's Note: Oooo, intense, huh? What will happen? Anyway, please read and review! ^^ I can't write if you guys don't review.**


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